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Devil's Food Cake

Recipe by Nigella Lawson from Nigella Kitchen

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Forget the name, this cake is heavenly!

Serves 10 to 12

Ingredients

for the cake:

50g best-quality cocoa powder,
sifted
100g dark muscovado sugar
250ml boiling water
125g soft unsalted butter, plus some
for greasing
150g caster sugar
225g plain flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs

for the frosting:

125ml water
30g dark muscovado sugar
175g unsalted butter, cubed
300g best-quality dark chocolate,
finely chopped
2 x 20cm sandwich tins

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Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Line the bottoms of both sandwich tins with baking parchment and butter the sides.
Put the cocoa and 100g dark muscovado sugar into a bowl with a bit of space to spare, and pour in the boiling water. Whisk to mix, then set aside.
Cream the butter and caster sugar together, beating well until pale and fluffy; I find this easiest with a freestanding mixer, but by hand wouldn’t kill you.
While this is going on – or as soon as you stop if you’re mixing by hand – stir the flour, baking powder and bicarb together in another bowl, and set aside for a moment.
Dribble the vanilla extract into the creamed butter and sugar – mixing all the while – then drop in 1 egg, quickly followed by a scoopful of flour mixture, then the second egg.
Keep mixing and incorporate the rest of the dried ingredients for the cake, then finally mix and fold in the cocoa mixture, scraping its bowl well with a spatula.
Divide this fabulously chocolatey batter between the 2 prepared tins and put in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Take the tins out and leave them on a wire rack for 5–10 minutes, before turning the cakes out to cool.
But as soon as the cakes are in the oven, get started on your frosting: put the water, 30g muscovado sugar and 175g butter in a pan over a low heat to melt.
When this mixture begins to bubble, take the pan off the heat and add the chopped chocolate, swirling the pan so that all the chocolate is hit with heat, then leave for a minute to melt before whisking till smooth and glossy.
Leave for about 1 hour, whisking now and again – when you’re passing the pan – by which time the cakes will be cooled, and ready for the frosting.
Set one of the cooled cakes, with its top side down, on a cake stand or plate, and spread with about a third of the frosting, then top that with the second cake, regular way up, and spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides, swirling away with your spatula. You can go for a smooth look, but I never do and probably couldn’t.

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Notes & Tips

Make Ahead Note The cake layers can be baked 1 day ahead and assembled before serving: wrap tightly in clingfilm and store in airtight container. Iced cake will keep for 2–3 days in airtight container in a cool place.
Freeze note Un-iced cake layers can be frozen on day of baking, each wrapped in double layer of clingfilm and a layer of foil, for up to 3 months. Defrost for 3–4 hours on wire rack at room temperature.

Recipe from Nigella Kitchen by Nigella Lawson, published by Chatto & Windus, part of the Random House Group Ltd.
www.nigella.com

Recipe Rating

What do you think?

Michelle 2 months ago

I made a gluten-free version by replacing the flour with 2 cups of gluten-free flour and increasing the baking powder to 4 teaspoons. Soo delicious.

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Cathy138 April 2011

Hi everyone I cook this cake ever Easter when you go shopping buy those tiny Easter eggs but before and before you put the cake mix into the oven unwrap around 12 and spread them evenly around the cake and push them into the mixture let cook it adds that extra gooey chocolate taste. With the rest of the Easter eggs unwrap the and place on top off the cake after icing that's if you're a chocolate freak all my friends love it

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Maureen90 April 2011

Truly sinful, absolutely delicious, Thanks for sharing this recipe

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maddieoves you February 2011

you are so cool and pretty and i love your TV shows what channel is it on again completely forgot

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CD6 January 2011

What is muscovado sugar and where can I buy it?

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- nicole April 2011
  
  it is equalivant to our brown sugar not raw.
  
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